Positioning device
A positioning device that has a support table, two pairs of sliding blocks slidably mounted in the support table, a positioning plate extending vertically at the top of each sliding block, a base on which the support table is supported, a cylinder in the base, a ball in the cylinder, a piston rod slidably mounted in the cylinder and pushing the ball to move upward in a vertical direction, so that the ball drives the two pairs of sliding blocks to move away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, respectively, until the positioning plates of the two pairs of sliding blocks abut against four inner walls of the opening of the circuit board, respectively, to allow the electronic device to be received in a positioning slot defined by the positioning plates, and a release mechanism that drives the piston rod to move downward in the vertical direction to allow the two pairs of sliding blocks to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, so that the positioning plates drive the electronic device in the positioning slot to move toward a center of the opening.
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This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. 201711001666.9 filed on Oct. 24, 2017.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a positioning device and, more particularly, to a positioning device adapted to centrally position an electronic device in an opening of a circuit board.
BACKGROUNDIn the related art, it is sometimes necessary to solder an electronic device on a circuit board in a sinking manner, that is, a main body of the electronic device is at least received in an opening of the circuit board and soldering legs of the electronic device are supported on a surface of the circuit board and soldered to electrical contacts of the circuit board.
In order to improve the soldering quality of the electronic device, the main body of the electronic device should be centrally positioned in the opening of the circuit board. To ensure that the main body of the electronic device may be centrally positioned in the opening in the circuit board, the size of the opening of the circuit board should be formed to precisely match the size of the main body of the electronic device. However, such a solution is not feasible in practical applications because there is manufacturing error in the size of the main body of the electronic device and if the size of the main body of the electronic device is slightly larger than the size of the opening of the circuit board, it may result in the impossibility of the main body of the electronic device being accommodated in the opening of the circuit board and precise control of the size of the main body of the electronic device and the size of the opening of the circuit board may result in a sharp increase in manufacturing cost.
In order to reduce the manufacturing cost, in the related art, the size of the opening of the circuit board is generally formed to be much larger than the size of the main body of the electronic device, so that the main body of the electronic device may always be accommodated in the opening of the circuit board. However, this in turn leads to another problem in that it is not easy to centrally position the main body of the electronic device in the opening of the circuit board, which reduces the positioning accuracy and the soldering quality of the electronic device.
SUMMARYIn accordance with the present invention, a positioning device for positioning an electronic device in an opening of a circuit board includes a support table on which the circuit board is supported and two pairs of sliding blocks slidably mounted in the support table and movable in a first horizontal direction and a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, with a positioning plate extending vertically on the top of each sliding block. A positioning device constructed in accordance with present invention also has a base on which the support table is supported, a cylinder in the base, a ball in the cylinder a piston rod slidably mounted in the cylinder. The piston rod pushes the ball upward in a vertical direction with the ball driving the two pairs of sliding blocks to move away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, respectively, until the positioning plates of the two pairs of sliding blocks abut against four inner walls of the opening of the circuit board, respectively, to allow the electronic device to be received in a positioning slot defined by the positioning plates. A positioning device constructed in accordance with present invention also has a release mechanism that drives a lower end of the piston rod to move downward in the vertical direction to allow the two pairs of sliding blocks to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, so that the positioning plates drive the electronic device received in the positioning slot to move toward a center of the opening of the circuit board.
The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. It should be understood that the description to the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings is to convey a general concept of the present invention to the person of ordinary skill in the art, than to limit the present invention to the described exemplary embodiments.
Furthermore, in the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
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According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the circuit board 10 has a plurality of first positioning holes (not shown), the mounting bracket 300 has a plurality of second positioning holes (not shown) corresponding to the first positioning holes, and the support table 100 has a plurality of positioning pins (not shown). The positioning pins pass through the first positioning holes and the second positioning holes, respectively, so as to position the circuit board 10 and the mounting bracket 300 on the support table 100.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the base 200 has a positioning shaft (not shown) and the support table 100 has a positioning hole (not shown). The positioning shaft passes through the positioning hole so as to position the support table 100 on the base 200.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device includes a light emitting diode.
It should be appreciated by those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are all exemplary embodiments and many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the attached drawings, the embodiments disclosed in the attached drawings are intended to describe the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure exemplarily, but should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.
Although several embodiments of the general concept of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, term “comprising” or “having” should be understood as not excluding other elements or steps, and term “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural elements or steps. In addition, any reference numeral in claims should not be understood as the limitation of the scope of the present disclosure.
Claims
1. A positioning device for positioning an electronic device in an opening of a circuit board, the positioning device comprising:
- a support table on which the circuit board is supported;
- two pairs of sliding blocks slidably mounted in the support table and movable in a first horizontal direction and a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, with a positioning plate extending vertically on the top of each sliding block;
- a base on which the support table is supported;
- a cylinder in the base;
- a ball in the cylinder;
- a piston rod slidably mounted in the cylinder that pushes the ball upward in a vertical direction with the ball driving the two pairs of sliding blocks to move away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, respectively, until the positioning plates of the two pairs of sliding blocks abut against four inner walls of the opening of the circuit board, respectively, to allow the electronic device to be received in a positioning slot defined by the positioning plates; and
- a release mechanism that drives a lower end of the piston rod to move downward in the vertical direction to allow the two pairs of sliding blocks to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, so that the positioning plates drive the electronic device received in the positioning slot to move toward a center of the opening of the circuit board.
2. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein:
- (a) the bottom of each sliding block has a slope surface, and
- (b) the ball abuts the slope surfaces of the two pairs of sliding blocks at the same time.
3. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein:
- (a) the positioning device further comprises four restoring springs in the support table and pushing against the sliding blocks, respectively, and
- (b) the ball drives against the elastic forces of the four restoring springs and the two pairs of sliding blocks to move the sliding blocks away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction.
4. The positioning device according to claim 3, wherein the positioning device further includes a pushing spring in the cylinder and biasing the piston rod upward in the vertical direction against the elastic forces of the four restoring springs, so as to drive the piston rod to move upward in the vertical direction and the ball to a work position where the ball is brought into contact with the sliding blocks through the piston rod.
5. The positioning device according to claim 4, wherein a top of the piston rod has a flange and the pushing spring is sleeved on the piston rod and abuts against a bottom surface of the flange.
6. The positioning device according to claim 4, wherein:
- (a) the release mechanism has: (1) a first slope surface on the lower end of the piston rod which extends out of the cylinder, and (2) a release slider in the base and moveable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction and a second slope surface mated with the first slope surface,
- (b) in response to movement of the release slider toward the piston rod in the horizontal direction, the piston rod is driven to move downward, against the pushing spring, in the vertical direction through the mated first slope surface and the second slope surface, such that the two pairs of sliding blocks are allowed to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction by the four restoring springs.
7. The positioning device according to claim 1, further including a pressing device adapted to press the electronic device onto the circuit board.
8. The positioning device according to claim 7, wherein the electronic device includes a main body and a plurality of soldering legs extending horizontally outward from the main body and when the electronic device is pressed on the circuit board, the main body of the electronic device is received in the opening of the circuit board while the soldering legs are supported on the surface of the circuit board.
9. The positioning device according to claim 8, wherein the pressing device includes:
- (a) a mounting bracket,
- (b) a pressing block mounted on the mounting bracket and slidable in the vertical direction, and
- (c) a pressing spring mounted on the mounting bracket and applying a vertical-downward press force to the pressing block, so as to press the electronic device onto the circuit board.
10. The positioning device according to claim 9, wherein:
- (a) the circuit board has a plurality of first positioning holes,
- (b) the mounting bracket has a plurality of second positioning holes associated with the first positioning holes, respectively, and
- (c) the support table has a plurality of positioning pins that pass through the first plurality of positioning holes and the second plurality of positioning holes, respectively, so as to position the circuit board and the mounting bracket on the support table.
11. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the support table has a positioning hole and the base has a positioning shaft that passes through the positioning hole so as to position the support table on the base.
12. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a light emitting diode.
13. A positioning device for positioning a first component in an opening of a second component, the positioning device comprising:
- a support table on which the circuit board is supported;
- two pairs of sliding blocks slidably mounted in the support table and movable in a first horizontal direction and a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, with a positioning plate extending vertically on the top of each sliding block;
- a base on which the support table is supported;
- a cylinder in the base;
- a ball in the cylinder;
- a piston rod slidably mounted in the cylinder that pushes the ball upward in a vertical direction with the ball driving the two pairs of sliding blocks to move away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, respectively, until the positioning plates of the two pairs of sliding blocks abut against four inner walls of the opening of the circuit board, respectively, to allow the electronic device to be received in a positioning slot defined by the positioning plates; and
- a release mechanism that drives a lower end of the piston rod to move downward in the vertical direction to allow the two pairs of sliding blocks to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, so that the positioning plates drive the electronic device received in the positioning slot to move toward a center of the opening of the circuit board.
14. A positioning device for positioning an electronic device in an opening of a circuit board, the positioning device comprising:
- a support table on which the circuit board is supported;
- a pair of sliding blocks slidably mounted beneath a surface of the support table and movable in a first horizontal direction and a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, with a positioning plate extending vertically on the top of each sliding block;
- a piston rod slidably mounted below the pair of sliding blocks and adapted to drive each of the pair of sliding blocks to move away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction, respectively, in a direction toward inner walls of the opening; and
- a release mechanism engaging with a lower end of the piston rod to drive the piston rod downward in the vertical direction to allow the two pairs of sliding blocks to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction.
15. The positioning device according to claim 14, further comprising a ball arranged at least partially below the pair of sliding blocks, the piston rod slidably mounted below the ball and adapted to push the ball upward in the vertical direction with the ball driving each of the pair of sliding blocks to move away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction.
16. The positioning device according to claim 14, wherein the release mechanism includes:
- a release slider movable transverse to the vertical direction; and
- at least one of a first slope surface on the lower end of the piston rod or a second slope surface formed on the release slider.
17. The positioning device according to claim 16, wherein the release mechanism includes the first slope surface on the lower end of the piston rod, and the second slope surface on the release slider, the first and second slope surfaces slidably mated together.
18. The positioning device according to claim 17, wherein in response to movement of the release slider toward the piston rod, the piston rod is driven to move downward in the vertical direction through the mated first slope surface and the second slope surface, such that the pair of sliding blocks are free to be moved toward each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction.
19. The positioning device according to claim 14, wherein the positioning device further comprises a pair restoring springs pushing against the pair of sliding blocks, respectively, the piston rod driving against the elastic forces of the restoring springs and the pair of sliding blocks to move the sliding blocks away from each other in the first horizontal direction and the second horizontal direction.
20. The positioning device according to claim 14, further comprising:
- a pushing spring biasing the piston rod upward in the vertical direction; and
- a base arranged below the support table and housing at least a portion of the piston rod and the release mechanism.
Type: Grant
Filed: Oct 24, 2018
Date of Patent: Jul 5, 2022
Patent Publication Number: 20190124804
Assignees: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (Shanghai), TE Connectivity Corporation (Berwyn, PA), Shenzhen AMI Technology Co., Ltd (Shenzhen), Measurement Specialities (China) Ltd. (Shenzhen)
Inventors: Zhiyong Dai (Shanghai), Dandan Zhang (Shanghai), Roberto Francisco-Yi Lu (Bellevue, WA), Songping Chen (Shenzhen), Xiangyou Hou (Shenzhen), Qinglong Zeng (Shenzhen), Lvhai Hu (Shanghai), Yun Liu (Shanghai), Changjun Wang (Shanghai)
Primary Examiner: Joseph J Hail
Assistant Examiner: J Stephen Taylor
Application Number: 16/169,241
International Classification: H05K 13/04 (20060101); H05K 13/00 (20060101); H05K 1/18 (20060101);